The object of the present invention is to solve the problem of washing sawdust for use in the manufacture of chipboard or particle board, and to do so in a smooth and simple manner. Methods of separating nutshells and septa from the meat of pecan nuts have been proposed, for instance as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,862, as have methods for separating light reject from paper pulp in U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,161. These methods, however, cannot be applied for the purpose of washing sawdust.